


The Other Side of the Moon

by Sasswarrior



Series: Kaider Shots [3]
Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Drabbles, F/M, kaider, kinder - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 4,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27605723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasswarrior/pseuds/Sasswarrior
Summary: These are my drabbles from Tumblr! They're very short and total unedited and all written in under fifteen minutes so there's that. Lots of variety and all based on songs because why not?
Relationships: Kai/Linh Cinder
Series: Kaider Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618105
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. Waiting's Getting Old

_Song: Easy Peasy by The Happy Return_

"I don't want to be alone," Kai whispered, holding out his hand to Cinder. She stared at it for a moment before taking it; her fingers were ice cold.

"So wait," she grinned. Kai rolled his eyes at her and pulled her close to him. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the scent of her. He never wished to be parted from her.

"But waiting's getting old."

Cinder laughed and pulled away from him. She grabbed his hand once more and brought it up to her lips. She kissed his palm gently, then gave him a final smile before she turned and walked away, leaving him alone.


	2. Never Wanna Leave

_Song: Never Wanna Leave by Hate the Drugs_

Kai breathed out a sigh, squeezing Cinder's shoulder as he did so. They were laying on a blanket out in the gardens of New Beijing Palace, staring up at a sky freckled with stars. The beams of light were somewhat hard to see due to all the light pollution, but he didn't much care. He was with Cinder, and that was all that mattered to him.

"You are the star of my summer nights," Kai whispered, turning his head so he could press a gentle kiss to the side of her face. She shrugged her shoulder as if to push away from him, but snuggled closer to him instead. Her arm came to rest around his waist and she laid her head on his chest. Lazily, his fingers danced along her arm as if performing some sort of dance.

"You're the reason why I sing my lovesick lullabies," he hummed, letting his voice take on the melody of a song his mother used to sing him.

Cinder let out a gentle breath—one that rang out just off tune to his own little lullaby.

"I feel like I'm floating on a dream," Cinder muttered, tilting her head up so she could look at Kai. "I never want to you leave."

Kai sighed, though it wasn't a sad kind—it was one of relief. It was the sort of sigh one could only release when they were completely and irrevocably happy.

"Then never leave," he said.

Cinder grabbed his hand and pulled it to her lips. She placed a soft kiss upon his palm, letting her lips linger.

"Okay."

Kai smiled, then closed his eyes upon the stars, knowing that they would have their happiness—that they could finally be together. And that was all he needed in the world.


	3. Too Late

_Song: Too Late by The Happy Fits_

"Move your hips along with the music," Kai grinned, placing his hands on Cinder's waist and swaying back and forth in time with the song. She glared up at him, but made no attempt to move his hands away from her.

They moved in time with the gentle melody—just the two of them dancing slowly in an empty ballroom. Kai couldn't help but smile as he spun her gently. She let out a little yelp, and it was then that Kai began to laugh.

She pulled away from him, crossing her arms over her chest, which had only the affect of making him laugh harder. She was so cute when she was angry; he wanted to kiss her and wipe the spitting rage from her features.

"Oh," Cinder scoffed. "Lick your lips but don't over do it."

Kai bit his bottom lip, then grabbed Cinder's hand and spun her in close to him. He pulled her close and dipped her back slowly as he kissed her. Then they broke apart and Kai swayed as a new song began to play.

"Bend your knees," Kai laughed, as Cinder stood stock still despite his own rocking.

He choked on his laughter, but bent his own knees rapidly in demonstration. "Keep the beat, but don't kill the drummer."

Cinder's face broke into a smile, and she allowed her body to fall against Kai's defeating the whole purpose of it all. He didn't resist, but rather held her, slowing the dance despite the quickening pace of the music. She leaned her head against his shoulder and Kai placed a sideways kiss to her messy hair.

"I just wanna be with you tonight," Cinder whispered. Kai let out a little sigh—he knew what she meant. He'd waited months to see her again, and she was only there until the day after the ball; two more nights.

"Me too," Kai said. "But isn't it a little too late?"

Cinder looked up at him, a smirk on her face. "It's never too late to be with you."


	4. I Don't Want to Miss You

_Song: I Don't Want to Miss You (Like I Do) by Austin Weber_

"I don't want to miss you like I do," Cinder whispered, her hand pressed up against her port screen as if she could touch Kai's face through the glass and thousands of miles. "I guess there was just some part of me that though by this point I'd be through."

Kai laughed, the sound somewhat tinny through the port, but no less beautiful. She wished that he was laying beside her in her massive bed and that they were laying side by side, grinning at one another with only the light of the stars to gleam upon them. Or better yet, she longed to be upon the earth, the place she still thought of as home.

"To the other side of love?" Kai asked, blinking slowly as a somber look overcame his features. "Where it's not just you I'm thinking of?"

"Yeah," Cinder breathed, her head beginning to pound. "Something like that."

"The last thing I'll do is forget you," Kai said, giving her a sad smile through the port. He was still sitting at his desk despite the lateness of the hour, but his work had long since been forgotten as they spoke to one another.

Cinder let out a weak chuckle. "But missing you isn't that much better," she sighed. "I wish I could find an attitude to keep myself from missing you. It's not quite brokenhearted or blue—it's a special kind of woe."

"Ah," Kai grinned, leaning his head toward his camera until all Cinder could see was black hair. Then he fell back against his chair once more, biting his lip. "My melancholy heart feels the same."

"You don't want to miss me either?"

"Not for another moment," Kai muttered, rubbing a hand over his sleepy eyes.

"You won't stop, will you?"

Kai gave her a look—one that silenced all concerns of him ever forgetting her. It was a look that one only gave a person they truly loved.

"Never."


	5. Without You There (Part 1)

Song: _Maple Syrup_ by The Backseat Lovers

Cinder woke with a start, her body chilled with the nightmare of burning. Her skin still felt as if the flames were licking her gently despite the cool air of her room.

Immediately her eyes fell upon the picture of Kai she still had taped to her wall—there despite their separation. It broke her heart to see his smile as he looked down at her. They had been happy then; they had still been together.

She dragged herself from bed and had to restrain herself from calling him. They were the kind of nightmares that he used to talk to down from. She missed the way his voice soothed her back into sleep.

Every day she thought of him and wondered what it would be like if they had made it work—if she had managed to get herself off the star-forsaken moon. It was tantalizing to think of as she watched him from afar, talking in press meetings and dancing at balls. It broke her heart.

She went to her closet and pulled out the gray hoodie he had left on the moon just for her. She almost put it on—but she knew it would still smell like him. That sweet scent of all things clean. She couldn't bear to smell him without actually being by his side.

"I'm sorry I lied," Cinder whispered, bringing the hood up to the tip of her nose and inhaling the fragrance for just an instant. "I'm sorry I lied when I said we could make it work."

She shut her eyes tight and tried to forget him—but he had always been unforgettable. "I wish I would have kept my word."


	6. Without You There (Part 2)

Song: _Troubled Mind_ by Cannibal Kids

Kai awoke with a start—tears fresh in his eyes though he knew not why. He could never remember his dreams, but from the state of his mind he knew that they must have been of Cinder.

 _Where are you now?_ Kai thought, his heart aching as he tore himself from bed. His bare feet were cold as they touched the carpeted floor; he was grateful that they were not marble like the floors at Artemisia Palace.

But oh, how he would have been there in a moment if Cinder wanted him to be. He would go all kinds of places just to be with her again.

He wandered to his bathroom and splashed water upon his face, clearing the red from his eyes. He toweled off his cheeks and stared at himself in the mirror, placing his hands down upon the counter so he could lean in and look upon his countenance further.

"Somehow," Kai whispered, wishing that she could hear him all the way from the moon. "Without you there..."

He closed his eyes as they began to sting. He couldn't think without her there. Kai didn't want to be there alone— he couldn't sleep without her beside him. He couldn't function properly without her.

"Weren't we supposed to make it?" He asked himself, squeezing tears from his eyes and letting them fall into the sink below. "Weren't we supposed to make it?"


	7. Apocalypse (Pt. 1)

Song: _My Heart is Buried in Venice_ by Ricky Montgomery

"Come rest your bones next to me," Kai whispered, his lips chapped and peeling. He looked ghostly against the firelight— terrible in his dying state. Cinder could hardly bear to look at him with his sunken eyes and shaggy hair. He was no longer the boy that she had met so long ago, but then again, she was no longer the girl he had once known.

Cinder sank down to the earth and allowed for Kai to wrap his arms around her in that embrace that only lovers and the dying were able to maintain— they were both. They had fallen in love before the end of the world— the collapse of society— and still they remained with one another.

But everything was ending oh-so swiftly, and darkness would soon consume them. So Cinder allowed for herself to be held; she allowed herself to stop fighting their inevitable doom.

"Toss your thoughts into the sea," Kai mumbled, his lips pressed to her ear. "I'll pull up each of our anchors so we can get lost— just you and me."

A single tear slipped from the corner of Cinder's eye and onto Kai's neck. She held him tighter, trying to forget her troubles, but they were difficult to forget. All she could remember was the life she had once had with Kai before wars had ravaged the earth and mankind had fallen upon one another.

Despite the world and how it had fallen, she still had Kai, the dearest love of her life. He wouldn't leave her to bleed or to breathe alone— he was with her until the very end. Her heart was buried within the depths of his soul, and she would allow for only him to take her home.


	8. Apocalypse (Pt. 2)

Song: _Lvr Boy_ by awfultune

The light of the fire was dying into the night: swirling and crackling and turning to dust. It felt like the end, and perhaps that was because it was. The end of mankind, the end of humanity, the end of life.

But it didn't really matter so much— not as long as he had her in his arms as the day turned into the night and life became death.

"I used to get on my knees," Cinder hummed into the night, her voice cracking with dehydration and the cold. "And I'd pray for love to come and find me someday— for love to come meet me my way."

Kai stroked his fingers upon her arm, stroking the fabric of her torn coat. His eyes turned to the sky and his thoughts wandered to her and how he loved her and the feeling of her heartbeat against his side.

"Your love hit like a brick to the face," Kai teased, though there was little life left in his words. "You put me back in my place. I didn't know if I was cut out for it."

"I'm glad you were," Cinder murmured, pressing her lips to his neck for an instant before bringing her head back down to rest upon his chest. They were so weary— so tired of it all. "You're my lover boy," she whispered. "You are the greatest love of my life, and whenever I'm with you I belong. You're my world."

"But the world is ending," Kai breathed the words out like a prayer.

Cinder nuzzled her face against his chest, and he could feel the gentle trickle of tears leaking through his coat. He held her tighter.

"Then I'll end with you."


	9. Apocalypse (Pt. 3)

Song: _Watch you Sleep_ by Girl in Red

"I don't want to leave," Kai rasped, his entire body shaking with the effort of dying, or maybe it was the effort of not dying. It didn't exactly matter anymore— they had run out of food and water days before, and had barely mustered the energy to make the small fire that was now nothing more than burning ashes.

Cinder pulled herself up just enough to look down upon him. Her eyes were sad as she took in his face— the way his eyes had turned to black and his skin nothing more than chalk. He knew that he was leaving and that she would stay a while after him. The fire within her had always burned brighter, and he was nearing the smothered ashes of the fire at their feet.

"Don't worry," Cinder soothed, though Kai could hear the hidden sob within her voice. She had pulled her entire body up off the ground, and the moon rested directly behind her head like a glistening halo. Kai could hardly bear to stop looking at her. She was like an angel, there to take his broken body away from his broken world "I'll watch you sleep."

Kai tried to raise his hand to touch her face but he couldn't muster up the energy. She grabbed his frozen hand and raised it up to her lips, placing a gentle kiss to the skin upon it. Then she wrapped her own frosty fingers in his own in an attempt to rub warmth back into them.

She tried to hum a distant lullaby, but her voice could not sustain the melody. They were both empty shells of the people that they had once been— nothing more than shattered bits of glass of the people that they were before everything had happened.

Her other hand touched his cheek, wiping away a tear that he hadn't known was there. He could barely manage to keep his eyes open to gaze upon her, his lids drooping slowly farther and farther down upon his cheeks.

"I'll watch you sleep," she repeated. "I'll listen to you breathe."

Her fingers traced his cheeks with the gentlest caress. He never wanted her to stop touching him; he never wanted to stop feeling her.

"I don't want to leave," Kai choked, the words barely able to escape his lips.

"I know," Cinder said, her voice hitching on the last word. He could barely see her through the crack in his eyelids, but she still remained an angel silhouetted against the moon. "Close your eyes, my love," she whispered, placing her hand flat against his cheek. "I'll watch you sleep."


	10. Apocalypse (Pt. 4)

Song: _I Saw You in a Dream_ by The Japanese House

"Kai," Cinder rasped. Her hand brushed stray strands of hair from his face. She'd been watching his features as his eyes closed and he fell into a world that she knew she would soon follow him into. Her fingers had remained upon him, trying to soothe him.

Her breath hitched as she touched his mouth and felt no warm breath. She let out a soft gasp that was more of a dry sob than anything else. She whispered his name again, allowing her voice to go as loud as if possibly could. He didn't respond.

"Kai, no," Cinder hissed, her whole body trembling as her fingers traced down to his chest to feel his heartbeat. "No no no," she cried, her cold fingers feeling nothing but the cold of the night.

She collapsed upon him, her head falling upon the crater of his chest as she clutched at him. His arms didn't move to encircle her within them.

"No no no no," Cinder wailed into the night. "No, Kai, you can't just not hear me anymore. You can't forget me," she sobbed, though her eyes were dry of tears. Her body had no more liquid within it left to spare. She knew that she shouldn't even try— that it was just a waste of time, but he was her Kai.

"I saw you in a dream," she cried, trying to sing him a lullaby but the words fell out as a gasp. "You came to me, a sweet apparition— a perfect hallucination."

She pulled herself up so that her head rested in the crook of his neck. She cradled his head with her numb hands, fingers gently stroking his matted hair.

"All good things come to an end, don't they?" She asked, though she knew not whether her voice penetrated the air. "I thought that we might last," she mumbled against the side of his face. But he couldn't hear her anymore— all it was was just a waste of time.


	11. Apocalypse (Pt. 5)

Song: _Hug All Ur Friends_ by Cavetown

As night lost the never-ending battle to day, the sky turned to a hazy pink, filling the world with a soft glow that was both weaker and stronger than the moonlight. The whole world was alight with the sun's slow creeping, but the pair that laid upon the leafy forest ground no longer had the moon as their spotlight.

Perhaps it was a good thing that the moon had been vanquished, for the pair of lovers were lost to the night, having allowed it to rock them into that bitter sleep of death. The night had turned them cold— their thoughts had become nothing but stone. No longer could they breathe.

The boy had fallen before her, but upon his death the girl could no longer hold on— so death had stolen her into her wretched arms.

But even in death she still held that boy, the one who she had loved so dearly. Her arms were about him, her fingers in his hair and her cheek pressed to his. She held him as if to let him know that she wasn't letting go— no, she would never let him go.


	12. Lasso the Moon

**Song 17: Song for the Lovely Lady Earth by Del Water Gap  
**

_“Love's not simple here anymore_

_And I've gone mental over how to leave this world and go back home.”_

***

Cinder watched Earth from the throne room of Artemisia Palace, wishing more than anything that she was down on the blue planet rather than gazing at it longingly. It felt like years since she had been there, when in reality she had visited mere weeks ago for the Annual Peace Ball in the Commonwealth.

She wished that she could travel back in time— back to Earth and into Kai’s arms. She wanted to be down upon the lovely lady Earth and know that she was home.

A ping sounded at Cinder’s waist at the same time a small notification lit up on her computer interface. She was receiving a comm— one from Kai.

Cinder grinned, pulling out her port and accepting his call. Instantly his face lit up the screen and she was overcome with another wave of longing as she stared at his tired face, and the way his hair was a complete mess by the end of the day. He looked terrible, though still completely and utterly charming. It would have been aggravating if Cinder didn’t love his stupid face so much.

“Hi,” Cinder breathed, touching her fingers to the port as if to sweet his messy locks from his forehead.

“Hello to you too,” Kai grinned. The background behind him spun, and Cinder knew that he was in his office chair. “I missed you.”

“Missed you too,” Cinder sighed, leaning against a marble pillar and sliding to the floor. “It feels like ages since I’ve seen you.”

“Yeah,” Kai grumbled, brow furrowing. “Do you reckon I could lasso the moon— bring you down here to be with me?”

“A lasso?” Cinder laughed, cupping a hand over her mouth. “What are you from, the second era?”

A blush tinted Kai’s cheeks, and Cinder relented on her teasing, though the strain of not laughing pulled at her lungs. Sometimes he was just too impossibly cute.

“Lasso Luna down to Earth,” Cinder said, her voice almost a hush.

“Really?” Kai asked. “You want me to?”

“More than anything,” Cinder whispered. “Love’s not simple here anymore. I’ve gone mental over how to leave this world and come back home.”

Kai’s eyes saddened as he looked at her. “Don’t worry, love,” he said. “Someday we’ll be together again— I promise.”


	13. All the Time

**Song 13: Darling by Christian Leave**

“I don’t think about you all the time,” Kai said, staring up at the night sky. He was laid out on his back on the green grass of New Beijing Palace’s gardens, with one arm wrapped around Cinder’s shoulder. His other hand rested atop her hand, holding it gently as they watched the stars.

Cinder’s face turned from the sky to stare at him. He didn’t look at her, he could feel her glare upon him at such words. Of course, she had just admitted to thinking of him always during her time on the moon, so such a proclamation from him wasn’t exactly… romantic.

A slow smile spread across his face. He attempted to hold in his laughter, but couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him as his eyes focused on Cinder and her ever-so charming scowl.

“But when I do,” Kai whispered, pressing his lips to Cinder’s forehead, “it’s a dream come true.”

Cinder rolled her eyes, but there was a grin tugging at the edges of her mouth.

“In fact,” Kai continued, feeling bolstered by that small smile upon his fiancée’s face. “Thinking of you helps me sleep— helps me dream at night.”

“Really?” Cinder asked, though it wasn’t really a question.

“Yeah,” Kai breathed, no longer staring at the stars, for her eyes shone just as bright. “You make me feel alright.”

“Uh-huh,” Cinder mumbled, her lips inching closer to his. “And why is that?”

Kai’s gaze danced between her eyes and her lips, both so close that he could memorize the shade of brown that was her eyes and every crease within her lips.

“Because, darling,” Kai said, his lips gently grazing Cinder’s as he said the final words. “I’m in love.”


	14. Time to Mend

**Song #22: I Saw You in a Dream by Honey Moon**

“I thought we said we’d be friends.” **  
**

Cinder stopped in her tracks, closing her eyes slowly before she turned on her heels to look back at him. And _oh_ how that look hurt.

He looked just as good as he had the last time she’d seen him— the night he’d broken up with her and ultimately smashed her heart into a thousand pieces. 

_Serves you right,_ Cinder thought. _You never should have fallen for someone as unattainable as Kai Prince._

But she had; she’d fallen in love with him. And no matter how many months passed by, she was still in love with him.

“Broken wings need time to mend,” Cinder shrugged, trying her best to act as if she didn’t care that he was here at the bar, talking to her as if he hadn’t dumped her.

“And yet,” Kai said, a mirthless smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, “you’re trying hard to fly away from me.”

“What do you want, Kaito?” Cinder snapped, folding her arms across her chest.

All the joy seeped from Kai’s expression, falling into a frown. Cinder almost felt bad for her harshness— but then again, he was the one who had dumped her, not the other way around. She had every right to be agitated with him, especially when he’d given her no reason for breaking her heart. He’d simply told her that it was over, and that was that. Goodbye forever, let’s stay friends.

But staying friends was too painful; no longer could she just be friends with Kai Prince. Her heart was screaming all or nothing, and she wasn’t entirely sure which one she wanted anymore. In all honesty, she felt a strange urge to lay down and cry. 

“I just, uh, wanted to call you up,” Kai said, then grimaced. “I wanted to see how you were doing. It’s been a while. Five months.”

“I have a calendar,” Cinder snapped, glowering at the boy she had once been in love with. The boy she still couldn’t seem to forget. “And I’m fine.”

She was anything other than fine— she wasn’t feeling happy now. This whole moving on thing sucked.

“Oh,” Kai swallowed, his shoulders slumping. “I’m glad.”

“Yeah,” Cinder mumbled, trying her best not to lose her chill. “I guess I’ll see you around, Kai.”

Before Kai could answer, Cinder turned and left the bar, her face hidden from Kai’s as a single tear slipped from her eye and fell down her cheek in a rush. More followed. And as Cinder walked down the street in a melancholy haze, she wondered why it didn’t feel as if one of them had won.


	15. Cold

“I’m cold,” Cinder whispered into Kai’s ear. He blinked at her rather stupidly for a moment, though perhaps it was more out of exhaustion than anything else.

“Again?”

“It’s cold on Earth,” Cinder mumbled. 

It was the middle of August. Cinder had come down for the Peace Ball, and in the few days since she’d arrived she’d complained about temperature too many times to count. Of course, it was comparably chilly to the day as the sun set and the stars began to shine through the polluted sky, but Kai found himself quite warm as Cinder snuggled up against him.

He pulled himself out of her arms and walked over to the foot of his bed where his gray hoodie rested. He handed it to Cinder, and she immediately zipped it up around her, shrugging her shoulders comfortably and heaving a great sigh.

Kai settled back down beside her on the couch, resting his chin on her head as she leaned back into him. She no longer held that scent of motor oil that he had known when they first met, but she still smelled like Cinder somehow. A little bit of sweat and shampoo.

“I’m pretty sure Luna is colder than Earth,” Kai said, playing with the loose strands of her hair. “I mean, seeing how it’s a great rock in the sky and it’s proximity to the sun is… lesser?”

“We have excellent heaters,” Cinder teased, tilting her face back to kiss Kai. 

He laughed for a moment, knowing for a fact that the Lunar Palace was as cold as ice— perhaps they’d had to keep it that way so as not to melt Levana’s heart. 

Of course Cinder tended to run cold. It had something to do with her wiring and that it prevented overheating at all costs. But still, it was strange that she had requested his hoodie so many times in just a few days. It was the middle of the summer— everyone was warm.

So if everyone was warm, why was Cinder so cold? Unless, of course, she wasn’t.

All of a sudden, it clicked in Kai’s mind. She wasn’t cold— she just wanted his sweatshirt. She was a girl, and he was her boyfriend, and she wanted to wear his hoodie. His heart warmed at the thought. He had so little knowledge of this kind of thing with both his parents gone and his only friend being, well, Torin, and he wasn’t exactly a well of dating tips.

Kai broke the kiss, smiling wide. Cinder laughed at him, and asked as to why he was extra cheery. He said nothing of his thought process. But when she left only a few days later, he made sure that his gray hoodie was packed with her things.


End file.
